My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Jimmy Rollins’ walk-off two-run double in the ninth gives the Phils a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the Dodgers. The Phils now have a commanding 3-1 games lead in the NLCS.

Jimmy Rollins’ walk-off two-out two-run double into the right center field gap in the ninth inning gives the Phils a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the Dodgers. The win gives the Phils a commanding three games to one lead in the National League Championship Series.

The Phils took a quick 2-0 lead in the first as, with a runner on first, and with two men out, Ryan Howard hits a two-run home run, his second home run of the series, knocking in Jimmy Rollins, who had earlier singled. With his two RBIs, Howard has tied Lou Gehrig’s major league record for the most consecutive games in which at least one RBI had been recorded in the post-season at eight, while at the same time establishing the major league record for the most consecutive games in a single post-season. The game then became a pitchers’ duel as Dodgers’ starter Randy Wolf calm down, keeping the Phils’ bats in check, while Phils’ starter Joe Blanton breezed through the Dodgers’ line-up for the first three innings. The Dodgers then cut the Phils’ lead in half in the fourth as, with runners on the corners, and with two men out, James Loney hits an RBI single, scoring Matt Kemp, who had earlier walked, and then went to third on Manny Ramirez’s single, making it a 2-1 Phils’ lead, while moving Ramirez, who had earlier singled, to second base. Two batters later, with the bases loaded thanks to a walk to Ronnie Belliard, moving both Ramirez and Kemp up a base, Russell Martin tied the game up at two-all with an RBI single, scoring Ramirez from third, while sending Kemp to third, and Belliard to second. The Dodgers then took the lead in the fifth as, with two men out, Kemp hits a solo home run, his first home run of the series, making it a 3-2 Dodgers’ lead. The Dodgers increased their lead in the sixth as, with two men on, and with two men out, Casey Blake hits an RBI single, knocking in Ramirez, who had earlier reached first base on a throwing error by Pedro Feliz, then moved up to second on an infield single by Belliard on a pop up that bounced off of Rollins’ glove, giving the Dodgers a 4-2 lead, while Belliard would move up to third base. The Phils would get a run back in their half of the sixth as, with a runner on third, and with one man out, Chase Utley hits an RBI single, knocking in Shane Victorino, who had earlier tripled. Both teams’ bullpens then kept it close until the bottom of the ninth, when, with two men on, and with two men out, Rollins hits a 1-1 fastball into the gap in right center field, knocking in Eric Bruntlett, who was pinch running for pinch hitter Matt Stairs, who had earlier walked, and had moved up to second as Carlos Ruiz was hit by the pitch, and Carlos Ruiz, who had been hit by the pitch, to give the Phils a come-from-behind walk-off 5-4 win, and a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the series.

Joe Blanton received a no-decision as he pitched six innings, giving up four runs, only three of which were earned, on six hits and two walks, while he struck out two. Chan Ho Park, Ryan Madson and Scott Eyre combined for two and a third scoreless innings, giving up only two hits (Madson and Eyre one hit each), and two walks (Park and Madson one walk each), while they struck out a total of three batters (Park (1), Madson (2)). Brad Lidge would get the win as he pitched two-thirds of an inning, striking out both batters whom he would face. His series record is now 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA. Randy Wolf also received a no-decision as he went five and one-third innings, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks, while he struck out two. Ronald Belisario recorded his first hold as he pitched a third of an inning, getting out the only man whom he would face. Hong-Chih Kuo also recorded his first hold as he pitched a scoreless inning and a third, striking out a batter. George Sherrill recorded his first hold as he pitched two-thirds of an inning, walking a batter, while also striking out one. Jonathan Broxton recorded his first blown save of the series as he took the lost, as he pitched an inning, giving up two runs on a hit, a walk and a hit batter. His series record is now 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA.

The Phils had only five hits in the game, after their eleven hits outburst of the previous night. Jimmy Rollins led the team with two hits, a single and a two-run double, which knocked in the tying and winning runs in the ninth, as he raised his series’ batting average to .211. Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard had the other three Phils’ hits, with Victorino’s hit being a triple, while Howard’s hit was a two-run home run. Utley’s hit brought in the Phil’s other run. Although most of the team is not being as productive in this series as they were in the Rockies’ series, they are knocking in runs when they need to.

The Phillies (3-1), will continue their NLCS with the Dodgers (1-3), tomorrow night with Game 5 of the best-of-seven series. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 8:07 pm Eastern. The Phils will sent to the mound first game starter Cole Hamels (1-0, 6.75), who pitched five and one-third innings on October 15, giving up four runs on eight hits and a walk, as he struck out four, in the Phils’ 8-6 win. He will be trying to send the Phils back into the World Series with a victory. The Dodgers will counter with their game two starter Vicente Padilla (0-0, 1.23), who stymied the Phils on October 16, as he gave up just one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out six, in the Dodgers’ 2-1 come-from-behind win. He will be trying to get the series back to Los Angeles. The Phillies’ bats will be trying to get a handle on ex-Phil Padilla so that they can get themselves back into the World Series.

Yes, Julia, that game was exciting, and so was last night’s game, especially the ending. :) And thanks for the congrats. Hopefully the boys will be ready to defend their crown against the ‘monster’ to the north.

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